Image filters: Effects of emotion displays on followers’ perceptions of principled leaders

We analyze how followers respond to principled and unprincipled leaders as they express positive and negative emotions, based on the moral tenets of authentic leadership theory. Grounded on the theoretical principles of emotion contagion and cognitive interpretation, we propose that negative affecti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cavazotte, Flávia, Abelha, Daniel Martins, Turano, Lucas Martins
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:Brasil
Institución:Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração (ANPAD)
Repositorio:BAR - Brazilian Administration Review
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs3.bar.anpad.org.br:article/508
Acceso en línea:https://bar.anpad.org.br/index.php/bar/article/view/508
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:principled leadership
authentic leadership
inauthentic leadership
leader distance
emotion displays
Descripción
Sumario:We analyze how followers respond to principled and unprincipled leaders as they express positive and negative emotions, based on the moral tenets of authentic leadership theory. Grounded on the theoretical principles of emotion contagion and cognitive interpretation, we propose that negative affective displays taint followers’ perceptions of authentic leaders and that positive affective displays brighten followers’ perceptions of inauthentic leaders. We tested these hypotheses in two laboratory experiments. Results indicate that while negative affective displays significantly disfavored perceptions about an authentic leader, positive affective displays did not favor attitudes about the leader. In contrast, positive affective displays not only favored attitudes toward an inauthentic leader but also positively influenced judgments regarding the leader’s ethicality. Passive negative displays led to more favorable attitudes toward an inauthentic leader than active negative displays. Our findings unveil followers’ susceptibility to distant leader’s emotion displays, highlighting the nexus among leadership, emotions, and ethics, as well as their relevance in the organizational and political arenas.